Antirattler for thill-couplings



I J! W ANTIRATTLER .No. 574,840.

I (No Model.)

- WILLARD.

FOR THILL COUPLINGS.

bered 561,188 and granted June 2, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WV. WILLARD, OF PITTSFORD, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES G. FARVVELL, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ANTIRATTLER FOR THlLL-COUPLINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,840, dated January 5, 1897.

Application filed September 9,- 1896. Serial No. 605,251. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN \V. W'ILLARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsford, in the county of Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Antirattlers for Thill-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in devices for preventing rattling in thillcouplings for vehicles, and particularly to the class of antirattlers to which the invention belongs, which is illustrated and described in the Letters Patent of the United States num- 111 that invention the two members are bent in to the form shown and are therefore of a single piece. In my improvement there are two spring-jaws secured rigidly together, preferably at their lower ends, and drawn toward or from each other by a bolt or screw, which eX- tends from one jaw into engagement with the other.

This invention is therefore somewhat of the nature of an improvement over the device in the Letters Patent aforesaid, and by means of the improved construction greater elasticityis afforded, inasmuch as the point at which the jaws are connected is lower than the bending-point in said patented invention, and there is less danger of breakage, the bending is divided and occurs at two points instead of at one central point, as in the patented invention. Moreover, when the antirattler is bent into shape it is found difficnlt and practically impossible to make the holes for the operating-screw register perfectly invariably, as such holes must be made before the plate is bent into shape. The result is that a large handle must be provided for the screw in order to obtain power enough to operate it in view of the additional friction or jamming produced by the imperfect registering of the holes. In this improvement the holes can be made-to register perfectly, as there is no central bending required, the jaws being secured together with absolute accuracy. For this reason, and also because of the additional elasticity above mentioned, a small handle can be provided for the screw, the advantage of which is obvious especially described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved antirattler placed in position, the axle,'clip, and a portion of the socket on the thill-iron being represen ted in transverse vertical section. Fig. 2 isasection taken on line 00, Fig.- 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the antirattler removed.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents an axle; B,the clip; O,the thill; O, the thill-socket, and c the bolt securing the thill to the lugs a, connecting with the axle.

My improved antirattler comprises two spring jaws or plates, preferably of steel, rigidly connected,preferably,at theirlower ends, and a bolt or screw extending from one jaw to the other. The jaw D is the one next to the axle, has its upper end curved at D outwardly toward the clip, and is provided with the recessed portion F, formed by the bends D", d, and ct and the curvature H. The jaw Eis provided with the curvature H, the bends g and g, the inward bend I, the shoulder J, and the inward curvature K. The shapes of these jaws are preferably, therefore, substantially the same and perform the same function as the members in the Letters Patent numbered 561,188, but instead of being connected by an integral curved bend the curved portions H H are bent downward at h h int-0 the parallel portions L L, which are riveted together at e.

The jaw E is provided with the screwthreaded perforation N and the jaw D with the slot f f, and a screw P, provided with the groove P and flange P, engages the jaw E by means of the thread and the jaw D by means of said slot, groove, and fiange,whereby the jaws may be drawn toward or from each other and the antirattler contracted and expanded by turning the thumb-piece or handle P, all as fully described in the said Letters Patent.

It will readily be seen that by making the jaws in two pieces instead of connecting them by an integral curve the bending-point (or points) is carried farther down from the screw, thus increasing the elasticity, while thebending is produced in this device mainly at two points-via, in the curvatures h h on opposite sides of the rivets eand in the patented invention referred to the bonding is, principally, necessarily at one point--viz., in the middle of the curved portion II. Thus in the present improvement the bending is distributed and danger of breakage lessened. The difficult-y of bending the integral steel plate shown in the said patent into two members in such a manner that the previously-formed holes for the screw will register accurately can be easily appreciated. This diliiculty and the consequent binding and jamming of the screw are entirely obviated by my improvement, in which two rigidly-connected jaws are substituted for an integral bent plate. Correctly registering the screw-holes and rigidly connecting the jaw at a point below the line of curvature shown in an integral antirattler combine to enable the screw to be worked more easily, and hence with a smaller thumb-piece or handle.

.lIavin g thus fully described my invention, I do not claim, broadly, the employment of a pair of metallic jaws rigidly secured together at one end; nor do I confine myself to the exact shape of the jaws or the exact construc tion of the expanding and contracting mechanism; but

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An antirattler for thill-couplings, eomprising a pair of spring-jaws rigidly secured together; and an adjusting mechanism connecting and in engagement with said springjaws whereby they may be positively drawn toward or forced from each other thus contracting or expanding the antirattler, as desired, substantially as described.

2. In an antirattler for thill-couplings, a pair of spring-jaws secured together near one end by a rigid connection; and an adjustable mechanism connecting and inv engagement with said jaws whereby they may be positively drawn toward or forced from each other and thus contract or expand the antirattler, as desired, such adjusting mechanism being intermediate of the point of rigid connection and the point of engagement with the thillcoupling, substantially as set forth.

The herein-described improved antirattler for thill-couplings, comprising a pair of spring-jaws formed with upwardly diverging or spreading portions near their lower ends, and having said lower ends formed to extend down from said diverging or spreading portions into the substantially parallel portions L, L; rigid connections uniting said parallel portions; and an adjusting mechanism eonneeting and in engagement with said jaws whereby they maybe positively drawn toward. or forced from each other and thus contract or expand the antirattler, as desired, such adjustin g mechanism being intermediate of't-he point of rigid connection and the point of engagement with the thill-coupling, substantially as described.

JOHN W. WILLARD.

\Vitn esses:

HENRY W. WILLIAns, A. N. BONNEY. 

